


A Pearl Grows, No Matter The Oyster

by verboseDescription



Series: Terrariums [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Companion Piece, F/F, Pre Rebellion, Rose is not Pink Diamond Theory, The Rebellion, White Pearl Theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 03:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7558909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verboseDescription/pseuds/verboseDescription
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pearl doesn't understand why a gem like Rose Quartz is stuck with a job of a pearl. Still, one can't really complain about being closer to their crush, even if this crush wants to do cute things like overthrow the government.<br/>Somehow, Pearl's really enjoying her time on earth</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pearl Grows, No Matter The Oyster

Rose Quartz is everything she was created to be.

She is kind and energetic, with a healing power that’ll serve the Diamond Authority well. But unfortunately for the Diamonds, she also cares. Not just about gems, about _everything._

Rose Quartz is everything she was created to be, which means she is just like every Rose Quartz before her. It’s no surprise that the Diamonds would want to keep her to themselves.

Still, Pearl isn’t entirely surprised to see her on Earth.

She’s a bit more surprised to see that they’ve been effectively given the same job.

 

Pearl is already used to serving as a secretary to Her Diamond and coddling their best fighters, but she knows Rose doesn’t deserve the same fate. For one thing, Rose is _powerful._

Pearl has spent her life surrounded by powerful gems. She knows one when she sees one.

Rose should be far too important to be saving other gems from the scrapes and bruises they received scouting Earth terrain and from roughhousing with each other.

She couldn’t think of it as a wholly negative thing, even though Rose deserved _much more_ then to live like a pearl, because it meant Pearl could spend plenty of time with Rose.

They watch the other gems train together, sometimes. Rose is there because someone might get hurt and Pearl is there because no one cares what a pearl does in her spare time as long as she looks pretty.

“Do you think I could fight like that?” Rose asks, her voice full of wonder.

“The only thing you need to fight,” Pearl murmurs, “Is a weapon and an enemy.”

It sounds poetic in her ears, and so she’s pleased with how it makes Rose smile.

 

Everything on Earth takes much longer than it should. The technicians keep finding something broken—Pearl’s fault, but she can’t bring herself to feel anything but pride about it—and can find no one to blame but each other. Pearl can tell she’s in for a good day when she sees a group of annoying peridots reduced to screaming at each other. She had sabotaged the peridots for two reasons: she didn’t want to go home, and she wanted to spend time with Rose.

Still, the fact that Rose actually wanted to spend the day with her came as a surprise.

“Isn’t this planet beautiful?” Rose asks gesturing at the plant life around them, “It’s so organic. Nothing like Homeworld at all.”

Personally, Pearl thinks all the organic matter make life a bit too messy for her to really appreciate it, but she does like seeing the flowers. She thinks they’re very pretty.

There’s a certain elegance to the way they dance when the wind blows them off the trees.

“You are absolutely correct,” Pearl says because she was taught to be agreeable and sees no reason she shouldn’t be with Rose, “What do you find most beautiful?”

“Oh you don’t want to start _that_ with me,” Rose chuckles, “I’ll never stop. But what do _you_ like about this?”

“Me?” Pearl repeats. It’s rare that a gem asks her opinion on anything. Generally, they just want her to say they’re right, but maybe, for some reason, Rose actually likes her company and wants to hear her speak.

Yeah right. She knows how unlikely that is. Still, Pearl stares at the greenery around her and thinks.

“I’m a big fan of the flowers,” Pearl admits, “The ones on the trees too, but mainly I like the ones growing out of the dirt. They’re so little and small and yet they’re _everywhere._ I can’t imagine something like that happening on Homeworld. It’s nice to see something so fragile survive so well.”

Rose is smiling at her now, and Pearl’s blushing. She shouldn’t have been so honest. After all, who truly cares what a pearl thinks?

“I’m glad,” Rose says, “I was worried that you weren’t happy. But now I see that there’s fields full of material to make you smile.”

“May I be perfectly honest with you for a moment?” Pearl asks, feeling suddenly bold. Rose nods.

“I don’t understand why you want to be around me.”

Rose’s face changes, and Pearl immediately regrets her words. Rose may not have a standing much higher than her _officially,_ but she’s still a quartz, and one that doesn’t come around often. Pearl can tell Pink Diamond has kept Rose sheltered if she doesn’t know what she’s worth.

Maybe it’s for the best. This way, she doesn’t seem to know how little she’s worth either. A servant living in a palace is still a servant, but that doesn’t mean that they need know the harshness of the world outside. Pearl does not know if she should be the one to open Rose’s eyes.

“May I be perfectly honest with you for a moment?” Rose asks. Pearl nods.

“I don’t understand why I wouldn’t.”

That, Pearl thinks, is part of the problem.

 

Pearl is in love with Rose Quartz.

It hits her suddenly, like a sword through the chest, as Rose speaks to a gem about the natural resources of the planet. She stands tall and concerned. The wind ruffling Pearl’s own hair does nothing to Rose. Of course something as small as nature wouldn’t affect her. She looks beautiful. Pearl had known many other pearls, all designed to look as aesthetically pleasing as possible but none came close to the glory of Rose Quartz.

There was no other gem with her smile, with her laugh, with her _gem._

There was absolutely no way she could feel the same way, and all the other gems knew it as well.

Her Diamond had heard of how Rose had taken “a liking” to her. Of course she would know—the Diamonds are all seeing—but she immediately assumed all Rose’s feelings were feelings of possession. Pearl knows she should not hope for more, but remembering Her Diamond’s words still generate an undesirable feeling in her gem.

_“For this trip, think of yourself as her pearl,” White Diamond had ordered, “Do what she asks. Make her comfortable. But do not let her see the Kindergarten.”_

There was no other way around it. She couldn’t keep this secret from her. If she loved Rose, she couldn’t let her feelings for her be mistaken for an order.

 

“And where is it you’re taking me?” Rose asks, amusement clear in her tone.

“You’ll see,” Pearl replies, trying to keep her voice just as light, “It’s just past this tree. You see that canyon?”

“Yes,” Rose says, “But Pearl why--,”

“—You’ll see!” Pearl cuts her off and gives a nervous laugh. She’s visibly anxious now, there’s no way Rose hasn’t noticed but she hopes to Her Diamond that she hasn’t anyways. Rose frowns, but continues to follow Pearl.

Pearl knows Rose understands when she hears a gasp behind her.

“This is a Kindergarten, isn’t it?” She asks. Pearl gives a small nod and Rose collapses, making loud, desperate sounds. Pearl’s immediate reaction is to comfort her but when she sees the tears rolling down Rose’s cheeks she understands.

Rose’s healing tears are unmatched, but so is the destruction caused by the Kindergarten. There’s no way she has enough tears for it. There’s also no way Pearl can tell her that.

“The organics,” Rose says suddenly, tears still flowing from her eyes, “There must have been some in this area. What happened to them?”

“I don’t know,” Pearl answers honestly, cringing at her own ignorance, “The closer lifeforms must have moved. We could… We could check to see if there’s still some nearby?”

Rose takes a deep breath and stands back up. As she brushes off her dress Pearl can’t help note that the ground beneath her barely looked any healthier than the rest.

“We can’t stay any longer,” She says, “White Diamond will notice if I’m gone. I don’t want you in trouble for showing me what I already should have known.”

Pearl nods.

“We’ll come back as soon as I’m able,” Rose adds. Neither of them want to see the Kindergarten again, but that doesn’t change the fact that Pearl would rush to the site as soon as Rose asked.

 

They go back a week later.

They find a village that is small and worn. The organics look tired and their equipment is so far behind Homeworld’s Pearl’s surprised they managed at all.

“They look low on resources,” Rose hums, “Judging by the architecture of their houses, I’d say they haven’t moved yet, but they will need to if they want to survive.”

“Perhaps they just think it’s a bad season,” Pearl suggests, “They can’t know their planet is being poisoned.”

“The only way they’ll know is if we tell them,” Rose agrees, walking into the town.

“Rose!” Pearl calls. Rose keeps walking. Fraternizing with local species, especially ones advanced enough to have a written language, is highly discouraged. Especially when telling them something that would make said species dislike Homeworld.

“Come on Pearl!” Rose calls back, “We’re already going against Our Diamonds’ wishes—we might as well make what we do count!”

Pearl gives a long sigh.

She runs after Rose.

 

Finding a town official was actually very easy despite Rose and Pearl not knowing human customs. Hierarchies were incredibly easy to spot, even to aliens. All the two had to do was look for the person who walked with an air of importance and wore garments that were clearly made to be different from the rest.

Of course, the fact that some townsfolk helped when Rose asked certainly made it easier. They all looked so shocked to see a creature like her talking to _them_ that most of them could only point them in the right direction, unable to say a word. If Pearl had been hoping the organic they were looking for would be just as helpful, she would have been sorely mistaken.

“I understand what you are saying ma’am,” the organic who introduced themselves as a “Bishop” says, “But I can’t very well move an entire town of people just because some woman says I should.”

“I am not telling you to do anything,” Rose replies, “I am saying that if you do not, you will die and you will be the Bishop of nothing. And I’m no woman—I’m a gem.”

“Personally,” Pearl adds, trying to sound as hostile as possible, “I would rather move a town of slightly unwilling participates rather than deal with a town full of angry malnourished subjects who will no doubt place all of their blame on the one who is supposed to be responsible for them all.”

The Bishop stares at her, clearly unused to being spoken to in such a way.

“She’s talking about you, by the way,” Rose adds helpfully.

Later, The Bishop makes claims of being visited by two “angels” giving warnings of a horrible fate that would befall everyone if they stay.

The town moves.

Pearl knows it’s only prolonging the inevitable.

 

It felt strange to go back to the gem settlement and pretend as though nothing had happened. Pearl was used to masking her emotions in front of other gems, but she had never done something so clearly against Homeworld. Every moment she kept existing unshattered was a miracle.

Rose wasn’t handling it much better. Quartz gems were created loyal and gems like Rose were rare enough that they never had anyone put them in their place. She wasn’t used to seeing the harshness of Homeworld. She wasn’t used to having many opinions she couldn’t express.

Normally, Pearl would be envious of such freedom but being a pearl did come with its own freedoms as well—though admittedly, some of those freedoms could also be labelled as traumas.

Rose was always being watched. No one ever looked directly at Pearl.

If Rose slipped up, gems would notice. When Pearl did, they didn’t care.

This wasn’t just Pearl being depressing; it was something she had known from the moment she had emerged, something that had been proven time and time again in her service to White Diamond. All that ever happened was gems starting to call her a “feral pearl,” and remark on how incredible Her Diamond was for keeping her, as if she had not been made to Her exact specifications.

“It is harder for me to go unnoticed,” Rose agrees when Pearl brought it up, “But we don’t have the resources to make another Rose Quartz as of now so I know I’m saved. Besides, I have you.”

Pearl can feel her face fill with blue and tries to cover her blush with her hand.

“I don’t know if I can do that much to help,” Pearl replies, but Rose’s small praise makes her feel as though she could take on a jasper alone.

“You’re here,” Rose smiles, “That already helps so much.”

Pearl lowers her hand and stares at the gem before her. She wanted to say that she felt the same way, but she didn’t have the words to describe just how deep her affections were. She could write sonnets for Rose and it wouldn’t be enough. Even if she spent the rest of her life dedicated to Rose, she wouldn’t be able to show how much love she had for her.

The wind ruffles Pearl’s hair and she returns Rose’s smile.

“I’m glad,” Pearl says, “I was just about to say the same.”

 

A party of gems go to establish a warp paid, so Rose goes along with them. Pearl doesn’t. They don’t need her to write any mission logs and if they need someone to attend to their wounds, they have Rose.

Being away from Rose makes Pearl feel as though someone has grabbed her gem and is slowly trying to shatter her, one crack at a time, but she refuses to let Rose feel guilty about it. Instead, she waves Rose off with elegance expected of Her Diamond’s pearl, and tries to find a way to distract herself.

She’s surprised to find herself walking back to the organics.

It’s not that she doesn’t like them. She just doesn’t care. Or, she doesn’t _want_ to.

They’ll all be dead soon, anyways, so there’s no use in getting attached. It’s a pity, but she can’t really do anything about that. She can’t fight off Homeworld. She’s just a pearl; she doesn’t even have her own weapon.  

Neither did the organics, actually. But they still had their own warriors.

 

Pearl’s first encounter with one of the human fighters called “knights” was completely by chance and left her breathless.

Humans were such fragile creatures and yet they were willing to devote their entire _being_ to fight for a cause. Pearl could respect that.

“You there,” Pearl commands, “Teach me.”

The knight in question doesn’t hesitate. Doesn’t call her too pretty to fight, or too small. She pulls out and extra sword and hands it to Pearl.

“Keep your stance wide,” the knight says, “and keep your body lowered.”

 

One day, the knight asks Pearl why she wanted to learn how to fight.

“It’s a nice talent to have,” Pearl lies. The knight takes off her helmet solely to raise an eyebrow at Pearl.

“I’m all about useful talents,” Pearl insists, “And besides, is it wrong to want to simply be able to fly through the air like you?”

The knight blushes at this and the conversation ends. Pearl’s glad.

She’s not actually sure what made her pick up a sword.

 

Pearl keeps on taking lessons from the knight. Every time Pearl can slip away, she goes to see the organics. It’s a surprise to her and the knight, but she keeps giving Pearl lessons. She tells her to use her speed to her advantage.

“I can’t move as smoothly as you because of my armor,” the knight explains, “Even if you won’t be able to hit as hard, they won’t be able to block.”

 “So what you’re saying is, I could defeat you?” Pearl asks. The knight snorts.

“Not today,” She says. The knight is full of confidence. She says all it is is that she knows her own strength, and her own skill, but Pearl can’t imagine ever feeling like that.

“It’s not a bad thing to be wary,” The knight reassures, “But you should still acknowledge how far you’ve come. You’re a fast learner. You should be proud.”

“If you say so,” Pearl replies. She’s never been proud of herself before. She’s not sure if she knows how to be. “May we work on that last technique again?”

 

Every time Pearl returns to the settlement, she feels as though the world looks a bit dimmer. She knows she has to be imagining it, but she thinks she can see the world dying. Maybe that’s why she wanted to learn to fight so badly. She knows she has to do something, and she knows that, as she is now, she can’t.

Pearl doesn’t like feeling powerless. It’s all she’s ever felt, really, but it’s never been a pleasant emotion.

A peridot snaps at her for standing around, so Pearl puts all thoughts of the dying planet—and why she cares about it, or the fact that the knight will die with it—aside for the day. She has other things to worry about.

Rose is coming home.

 

When Rose greets Pearl, she is weary, but still looks just as radiant as she did the day she left.

“White Diamond would like a progress report,” Pearl replies, “She requires a map of all created warp pads, and all warp pads that will be created in the future, and the same for Kindergartens.”

The gems with Rose all groan. Reports are universally known as the worst part about any mission.

“I’ll do it,” Rose offers. The other gems look at her in surprise, but none of them want to ask why. A small part of Pearl leaps at the thought of Rose willing to go through hours’ worth of mission reports just to talk to her, but there’s other gems around so she keeps her face in her most agreeable work smile and tries not to visibly react.

“Thank you Rose Quartz,” a trio of amethysts choruses and immediately run off to avoid being roped into doing work.

“Come on now Pearl,” Rose says “I have a report for you to record.”

 

“So how was it?” Pearl asks, “After traveling that long, there must be something you’ve found enthralling!”

“Oh I _did,_ ” Rose sighs, “Oh Pearl there’s just _so much_ here. And none of the other gems care! If an organic got in their way, they’d just push them aside! I’ve seen jaspers give organics poof-worthy injuries just for getting in the way. And the amethysts made a _game_ of trying to catch the feathered creatures out of the sky with their whips!”

“Quartzes are known for being a bit,” Pearl pauses, trying to find the right word, “aggressive.”

“I _know_ ,” Rose moans, “And that’s why they won’t listen to me. I’d be fine with fighting, honestly, if it was necessary, but since I haven’t I have as much authority over them as a newly cut gem!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Rose waves her hand, “I’m just a quartz. I don’t have a place unless I make one for myself. It’s only fair. But, that’s not the _point._ Pearl, we need to do something. The Earth won’t survive if we don’t.”

“I have a very limited skillset,” Pearl says, “But I will use them in whatever way I can to help you.”

“To help Earth,” Rose corrects, then bites her lip, “But there’s not that much that we _could_ do. I’m just a quartz.”

Gems don’t have rest cycles, not in the same way organics do, but Pearl can’t help but think Rose is in need of a long nap. She looks so tired that Pearl’s suddenly reminded of something another Pearl had told her, back when she was new.

Pearl had called herself defective and the older pearl had agreed. But unlike all of the other gems who had called her that before, and after, the pearl hadn’t meant it meanly.

 _“We’re all defective, one way or another_ ,” _She had said,_ _“It’s what Homeworld does to its pearls. If you don’t want to get harvested, your best bet is to pretend nothing’s wrong.”_

_“I can’t imagine doing that forever,” Pearl replied, “I’d crack!”_

_“Pearls don’t have forever, sand speck,” pearl hummed, using a familiar pearl term of endearment for new pearls, “We just have tomorrow.”_

Pearl hadn’t realized that other gems felt the pressure too. With all their power, what did they have to fear? But seeing Rose look so tired and desperate, Pearl understood. The truth of it was simple: Rose Quartz was just as defective as Pearl.

And she had run out of tomorrows.

 

Starting a revolution took time. Pearl and Rose wouldn’t be able to just fight everyone in the settlement straight on, but if they had the element of surprise, they’d at least be able to get a few good hits in.

“The problem is,” Rose frowns, “You don’t know how to fight.”

“Actually,” Pearl says. She tells her about the knight.

“She sounds _wonderful_ ,” Rose smiles, “And she may have just helped save her species! Tell me, what did she call herself?”

“Oh,” Pearl frowns, “I don’t… I don’t know. I never asked.”

Pearl had thought of the knight like she thought of rubies, but with a shorter lifespan. She had never asked the knights name because she was simply a knight. She’d die in battle, a noble but forgotten death. Maybe she already had. Organics lived such short lives, after all.

“After we chase out the settlement, we can go ask,” Rose says. Pearl nods.

“I suppose we best get to it then,” she says.

 

Jaspers always run into a fight headfirst. They leave themselves open.

Most quartzes do, truth be told, but jaspers were the worst of it. Amethysts were slightly more careful—their weapons had a longer range, so there was never a need for them to charge in like a jasper.

Rubies were cannon fodder. Pearl was confident she could fight any that got in her way.

And the peridots would be no problem, of course. They weren’t fighters. Even the ones with some sort of weapon weren’t used to actually _fighting_ with it. White Diamond wouldn’t be a problem either. Diamonds didn’t fight. They were above that.

There were some other gems too, of course, but the settlement wasn’t an army. They weren’t expecting anyone to actually fight them, and so the only fighters there were meant to help the technicians. Some of them probably hadn’t even gotten into an actual battle in hundreds of the Earth’s moon cycles.

“It’s amazing how simple this will be,” Pearl says with a touch of pride, “We’re but two gems and we’re enough to take them all out!”

Rose smiles at her and Pearl can feel herself turn blue with happiness.

But Rose isn’t smiling because she’s happy.

“Pearl,” she says, “I’m going to stay and fight for this planet. You don’t have to do this with me.”

“But I _want_ to!” Pearl cries, suddenly frustrated—hadn’t they already gone through this? Didn’t Rose know Pearl would always be willing to help her?

“I know you do,” Rose replies, “Please, please understand if we lose, we’ll be killed, and if we win, we can never go home.”

 

Pearl isn’t a human. She doesn’t dream and she may never know for herself what it is like.

What she does know is that if she could dream, all her dreams would be of Rose. That no matter her state of consciousness, Pearl’s mind is always going to go back to the gem she loves.

Nothing, not even being shattered into dust, would stop her from thinking about Rose, stop her from _caring_ about Rose, stop her from doing _everything_ she could, just for Rose.

 And if Rose wanted a Rebellion? That’s what Pearl would give her. She’d raise her sword and run into battle and regardless of how dangerous it got, or how frightened she was, Pearl would keep fighting.

Because Rose wanted her to. Because Rose _needed_ her to.

But Pearl isn’t good with words. She’s never had to be; no one cares what a pearl has to say and even if they did, she’s never sure her words come out right.

What Pearl wants to say is something beautiful. What Pearl wants to say is something poetic. What Pearl wants to say is something that Rose will remember forever.

But all she can do is tell the truth.

 

“Why would I ever want to go home,” Pearl asks, hoping she’s saying the right thing, “If you’re here?”

Rose chuckles and holds out her hand. Maybe she was hoping Pearl would say that.

“My Pearl,” Rose says and it doesn’t sound like a proclamation of ownership. It sounds almost like how a gem would refer to a diamond—with respect and awe—but with more… love?

Rose Quartz saw her as an equal. Rose Quartz saw her as someone to be loved. Pearl felt as though she could crack a Diamond, so giddy with happiness she was.

With a trembling hand, Pearl reaches for Rose.

And together, hand in hand, they go to start a war.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's pearl's side! If you haven't already, please read the rose quartz version of this A Rose Blooms, Despite The Soil  
> I may write more of this, going into the actual rebellion, idk  
> I hope u enjoyed it!


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